Spanish Language and Literature (SPAP)

Abstract

The Faculty of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese is committed to excellence in teaching and mentoring, along with the production of new knowledge that is the hallmark of a strong department. We are known for our focus on intersections between language, literature, culture, and politics, our community engagement, and our MA track in Hispanic Applied Linguistics. We bridge several intellectual fields across Spain and Spanish America and between North, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Brazil, as we rethink the specificity of our cultures. The Department has been the home of major Latin American and Spanish literary figures, to include Juan Ramon Jimenez, who taught at the University between 1943 and 1951 and who, after being nominated by the Department, received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1956. His legacy, as well as that of cultural critic Angel Rama, award-winning poet Jose Emilio Pacheco, award winning writer and Professor Emeritus, Jorge Aguilar Mora, and Professor Emerita, Graciela Palau de Nemes, among others, continues to shape our thought, vision, and mission.

The Department is renowned for its multidisciplinary strengths in Latin American and Lusophone literatures and cultures as well as its faculty research in the areas of the history of ideas, Southern Cone literature, Judeo-Latin American literature, Mexican literature, theater, and performance, Latin American modernismo, colonial and transatlantic discourses, Central American transnational cultures, U.S. Latinidades, Quechua language and indigenous literatures, Caribbean-Archipelagic poetics/politics, salsa and sabor, Brazilian cinema, Lusophone Africa and African diaspora studies, deconstruction of the Cuban Revolution, and contemporary reinscriptions of the nineteenth century.

Faculty members in the area of Spanish literature are recognized for their work in the history of the Spanish language and philology from the Middle Ages to the present, Medieval historiography and women narratives, Golden Age poetics, Cervantes and Quevedo traditions, revisions of the Enlightenment, romanticism (journalism and costumbrismo) and realism (philosophical traditions), modern and postmodern narrative and poetics, as well as representations of the Spanish Civil War and exile, particularly in Latin America.

The Department is also at the forefront of Spanish Applied Linguistics, language teaching pedagogy, language teacher education, language use and identity, social and political issues in foreign language teaching and learning, instructional technology, learner variables and learning disabilities, language for specific purposes, cross-cultural communication, and heritage language learning.

Mission

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese seeks to forge a strong dialogue between, and within, our areas of specialization pertaining to Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. To that end, we offer thorough instruction in the diverse, complex, and globalized literatures, cultures, and linguistics of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking world. Our students not only develop the critical language skills to communicate in the target language but also gain an understanding of the cultures, politics, histories, and literatures of the communities and national spaces of the Americas, Spain, and Portugal.

Our goal is to foster learning and thought, develop critical perspectives, and promote intellectual growth in our students. We teach across interdisciplinary fields such as literature, film, popular and visual culture, theatre, history, philosophy, critical theory, gender and queer studies, philology, and linguistics in different cultural and geographic contexts. We strive for the creation and discussion of new forms of knowledge and the effective engagement of our students and faculty with the world. We prepare students to become promising professionals in their chosen careers.

Our M.A. and Ph.D. graduates are mentored by our faculty, engage in substantive research projects, and benefit from rigorous training in the teaching skills required by the profession. They are prepared to meet the professional demands of highly competitive academic positions in the United States and Latin America.

Financial Assistance

Financial assistance in the form of fellowships and assistantships is available for qualified applicants.

Keywords: Spanish in Maryland; Spanish in Washington, DC; PhD in Spanish; MA and PhD in Spanish; MA and PhD in Spanish/Peninsular literature; applied linguistics; Latin American Literature, MA and PhD in Latin American Literature

Program-Specific Requirements

3 Letters of Recommendation: The letters of recommendation must be in English or notarized translation.

Writing Sample: A research paper written in Spanish, uploaded to the Upload Requirements section of the application.

Interview may be required (in person/by phone)

In addition to Graduate School requirements, candidates must have a bachelor’s degree with a major in Spanish Language and Literature, or the equivalent in a related field with near native fluency in the written and spoken language.

In addition to the resources of the University libraries, students have easy access to the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution and other Washington-based libraries and archives. National Archives-II, located on University grounds, is readily accessible to the Campus community. Dr. Sosnowski is the founder and editor of the literary journal Hispamerica. The graduate students publish Animal de fondo.

In association with the Latin American Studies Center, the Department promotes original initiatives on Latin American topics. Postdoctoral Fellows and Visiting Professors are an integral part of our academic program. Also the Department hosts Juan Ramón Jiménez Distinguished Lectures and Seminars Series and the José Emilio Pacheco Distinguished Series. In recent years, our faculty has been the recipient of major grants and fellowships from The Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.